Menu Pricing Calculator

Estimate a menu selling price from recipe cost and a target food cost percentage.

Price a menu item from recipe cost

Enter cost per serving and the food cost percentage you want the selling price to represent.

Recipe cost per serving

Target food cost (%)

Calculated menu price—

Gross profit per serving—

Gross margin before other costs—

How the calculation works

Menu price = recipe cost per serving ÷ target food cost rate. If the target food cost is 30%, the recipe cost is intended to represent 30% of the selling price.

How to use the result

Use cost-based pricing as one input alongside guest willingness to pay, competitive positioning, contribution to fixed costs, portion size and menu engineering. Round or adjust the calculated price deliberately rather than treating it as automatic.

Assumptions and limitations

The tool assumes recipe cost per serving is accurate and excludes labor, rent, utilities, commissions and other overhead unless they are built into your target. Actual food cost can also differ because of waste, yield and purchase-price changes.

Example

If a dish costs 120 per serving and the target food cost is 30%, the cost-based menu price is 400.

Frequently asked questions

Is target food cost the same as target margin?

No. A 30% food cost implies a 70% gross margin before labor and other operating costs.

Should I round the calculated menu price?

Usually pricing also considers customer perception and menu strategy, so use the result as a reference and apply deliberate rounding.

Does this include labor?

Not directly. The formula uses recipe cost and the selected food-cost target.

What if ingredient prices change?

Update the recipe cost and recalculate; stale recipe costs can make menu prices misleading.